CO depletion and deuterium fractionation in pre-stellar cores
Jan, 2003
11 pages
Published in:
- Astrophys.J.Lett. 585 (2003) L55-L58
e-Print:
- astro-ph/0301651 [astro-ph]
DOI:
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Abstract: (arXiv)
We report the detection of D2CO in a sample of starless dense cores, in which we previously measured the degree of CO depletion. The deuterium fractionation is found extremely high, [D2CO]/[H2CO] ~ 1-10 %, similar to that reported in low-mass protostars. This provides convincing evidence that D2CO is formed in the cold pre-stellar cores, and later desorbed when the gas warms up in protostars. We find that the cores with the highest CO depletions have also the largest [D2CO]/[H2CO] ratios, supporting the theoretical prediction that deuteration increases with increasing CO depletion.References(24)
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